Administrative divisions of Turkey

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Turkey has a unitary structure in terms of administration and this aspect is one of the most important factors shaping the Turkish public administration. When three powers (executive, legislative and judiciary) are taken into account as the main functions of the state, local administrations have little power. Turkey is a highly centralized unitary system, and the provinces are subordinated to the centre. Local administrations were established to provide services in place and the government is represented by the governors and city governors. Besides the governors and the city governors, other senior public officials are also appointed by the central government rather than appointed by mayors or elected by constituents.[1]

Within this unitary framework, Turkey is subdivided into 81 provinces for administrative purposes. Each province is divided into districts, for a total of 973 districts.[2] Turkey is also subdivided into 7 regions and 21 subregions for geographic, demographic and economic purposes; this does not refer to an administrative division.

The largely centralized structure of decision-making in Ankara is often considered an impediment to good governance,[3][4][5] and causes resentment in particular in ethnic minority regions.[4][6][7] Steps towards decentralization since 2004 have proved to be a highly controversial topic in Turkey.[5][8] Turkey is obligated under the European Charter of Local Self-Government to decentralize its administrative structure.[4][9] A decentralization program for Turkey is an ongoing discussion in the country's academics, politics and the broader public.[10][11][12][13]

Turkey is subdivided in a hierarchical manner:

  1. ^ "General Structure of Turkish Public Administration" (PDF). justice.gov.tr/. Ministry of Justice. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  2. ^ "Turkey Districts". Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  3. ^ Alec Ian Gershberg (March 2005). "Towards an Education Decentralization Strategy for Turkey: Guideposts from international experience" (PDF). World Bank. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-01-14. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
  4. ^ a b c "The Turkish Constitution and the Kurdish Question". The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 1 August 2011.
  5. ^ a b Ulaş BAYRAKTAR; Élise MASSICARD (July 2012). "Decentralisation in Turkey" (PDF). Agence française de développement.
  6. ^ Soner Cagaptay (3 August 2015). "Turkey's Kurdish Moment". The Washington Institute.
  7. ^ Stefano Sarsale (1 December 2016). "HDP arrests pose grave risks for Turkey's future". Global Risk Insights.
  8. ^ Charlotte Joppien (24 September 2014). "'Civic Participation' or 'Customer Satisfaction'? Waves of Centralization, Decentralization and Recentralization from the Ottoman Empire until Today". ResearchTurkey. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  9. ^ "Local and regional democracy in Turkey". Council of Europe, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Monitoring Committee. 1 March 2011.
  10. ^ "BDP's decentralization proposal debated in Turkey". Hurriyet Daily News. 3 October 2010.
  11. ^ "The principle of decentralization in the new constitution". Hurriyet Daily News. 24 September 2010.
  12. ^ Ahmet Davutoğlu (20 November 2015). "New Turkish gov't to focus on new reforms to solve age-old problems". Daily Sabah.
  13. ^ Aydın Selcen (7 March 2016). "Decentralization for Peace in Turkey, Iraq & Syria". Turkish Policy Quarterly.